Amazon Confirms Hiring Xbox Co-Creator J Allard to Lead New Product Invention Team
Amazon’s devices unit has launched ZeroOne, a new team led by former Microsoft executive J Allard, aiming to create breakthrough consumer products. The team, with locations in Seattle, San Francisco, and Sunnyvale, focuses on both hardware and software projects, developing ideas from conception to launch.
J Allard, who worked at Microsoft for 19 years and was an architect of the Xbox game console, joined Amazon in September 2024. He reports to Panos Panay, who also moved from Microsoft to Amazon in 2023 to head the devices and services group. An Amazon spokesperson confirmed to CNBC that Allard is overseeing the ZeroOne team but didn’t provide further details about the group’s specific projects.
Job postings for Amazon’s ZeroOne unit revealed limited specifics about the team’s projects. One listing mentioned involvement in “conceiving, designing, and bringing to market computer vision techniques for a new smart-home product.” The group is being led in part by the former head of Lightform, a projection mapping startup acquired by Amazon.
As Amazon expands certain parts of its devices division, such as the ZeroOne project, it is simultaneously scaling back others. Earlier this month, the company laid off around 100 employees across its devices and services group, affecting teams working on Alexa, Amazon Kids, and its hardware R&D arm, Lab126.
The ZeroOne team’s mission aligns with Amazon’s strategy to innovate and develop new consumer products. With Allard’s expertise and the team’s diverse background in developing technologies such as Alexa and Luna cloud gaming service, the project is poised to bring significant advancements in the consumer technology space.
